Menzingen,23.05.2018

Herbalist invites public to her garden

Judith Felder qualified as a naturopath in 2012 and since 2015 she has run her own Curavita naturopathy practice in Unterägeri. Recently a journalist of the Zuger Zeitung went along to visit her in the grounds of her home in Vogelsang near Menzingen to see how she grows many of the plants she uses in her job, though, in her words, it is more of a calling.

What is clear on entering the gardens is that they are clearly looked after by someone who is very much in tune with nature. It was actually Felder’s father who laid them all out, though not everywhere is over-trimmed, some plants allowed to flourish naturally. Passing through an arch of roses, they arrive at the herb garden. “This is sage,” she explains, as she picks of one of its leaves. “It can be used to help alleviate digestive troubles, such as feeling too full, increased perspiration and problems with the mucous membrane of the mouth and throat.”

Then they come across chives. What might this be used for?
“Well, I just love the round purple flowers, but chopped up, they add a lovely flavour to salads,” she explained.

The 52-year-old makes a range of products, for example cough mixtures, herb salts, lip balm and numerous ointments, which she uses herself or gives away as presents. “My daughters take a lot off me,” she said adding how she supplies a local private school with herbal tea. “Then I use the oil I make from St John’s wort and the ointment I make from marigolds to massage my patients.” As shown in the photograph, Felder also uses hawthorn blossom, mainly harvested between June and August, to make a tea which is good for the heart.

She went on to explain how you do not actually need a garden to be able to make many herbal remedies, as nettles, dandelions and other plants growing in the wild can be used. When out walking, she always takes a bag made of material with her, collecting some, for example, from the edge of woodland or on the edge of meadows, having obtained prior permission. What she always takes care to do is not pick all the plants of one type growing in a particular place, but to leave some so they can continue to thrive.

To go on to use them for other purposes, they all have to be dried and protected from light, so Felder uses the attic for this. They should then all be used within a period of one year.

If you would like a guided tour through Felder’s garden, this will be possible between 9 am and noon on Saturday 2 June, though visitors are kindly asked to express their intention by Monday 28 May at the latest on judith.felder@curavita-praxis.ch.